Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) Trading Up 0.6% – Here’s Why

Exxon Mobil Co. (NYSE:XOM) traded up 0.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $109.85 and last traded at $109.36. 2,563,185 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 14,472,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $108.67.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on XOM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Exxon Mobil from $118.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BNP Paribas lowered Exxon Mobil from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Exxon Mobil from $149.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Exxon Mobil in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $124.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Exxon Mobil from $142.00 to $140.00 in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $128.84.

Exxon Mobil Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.33. The stock has a market cap of $481.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.35 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) last posted its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The oil and gas company reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $90.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $93.98 billion. Exxon Mobil had a return on equity of 14.73% and a net margin of 9.61%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Exxon Mobil Co. will post 7.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Exxon Mobil Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, November 14th were paid a dividend of $0.99 per share. This represents a $3.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. This is a boost from Exxon Mobil’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.95. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 14th. Exxon Mobil’s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.32%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Exxon Mobil by 7,761.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 6,893,677 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $808,077,000 after purchasing an additional 6,805,982 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Exxon Mobil by 1,524.1% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,445,922 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $585,818,000 after acquiring an additional 5,110,603 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Exxon Mobil by 16.3% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 31,522,556 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock worth $3,936,929,000 after acquiring an additional 4,415,012 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Exxon Mobil by 168.5% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,530,457 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $531,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,842,844 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in Exxon Mobil by 11,131.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,792,811 shares of the oil and gas company’s stock valued at $192,853,000 after purchasing an additional 1,776,848 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.80% of the company’s stock.

About Exxon Mobil

Exxon Mobil Corporation engages in the exploration and production of crude oil and natural gas in the United States and internationally. It operates through Upstream, Energy Products, Chemical Products, and Specialty Products segments. The Upstream segment explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas.